Skip to main content

The Future of Primary and Secondary Education in Manitoba

Tuesday May 8, I spoke on a Members Statement about our recent Forum on the future of primary and secondary education in Manitoba.   A video of my comments is at this link.   The text, from Hansard, is below. 

Future of Primary and Secondary Education

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, April 29th I was privileged to host a panel on the future of primary and secondary education in Manitoba. It was an inspiring afternoon.
      Our leadoff speaker, Rebecca Chartrand, a long-time indigenous educator and currently executive director of indigenous strategy at Red River College, spoke of emergent learning and of injecting indigenous language, culture and perspective into our education system.
      Wendy Bloomfield, an innovative leader, chair of the Seine River School Division and the Child Nutrition Council of Manitoba, spoke of investing in teachers as teachers adapt more flexibly to the learning styles of individual students. She spoke of evidence‑based strategies, including alternative reading recovery; of strengthening music, arts and drama to inspire students; of enhancing students' emotional, cognitive and physical well‑being; of enhancing early education, including Kids at Play, half‑day learning and half‑day play.
      Leah Ross, a lawyer who's found her real passion in teaching, emphasized the need for individual attention to help children with learning disabilities do well.
      Ara Dungca, president of Grant Park High school student council in 2012, talked of experiential learning, of continuous feedback and the need to integrate technology to tailor learning to individual students' needs.
      Valérie Rémillard, the president of the Éducatrices et éducateurs francophones du Manitoba and representing the Manitoba Teachers' Society, spoke of the need to address the shortage of French immersion and French teachers. The demand for these programs is increasing, and the benefits in our global world of a second language and broader cultural understanding are large.
      Thanks to all our presenters and to the many in our audience who added comments and suggestions. We're in an exciting time for learning. We have a big task ahead of us to be sure all Manitobans have the opportunity to learn and achieve their potential.
      And thank you to all our teachers on teacher appreciation day today. Merci.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dougald Lamont speaks at Meth Forum last night to present positive ideas to address the epidemic, while exposing the lack of action by the Pallister Conservatives

Last night at the Notre Dame Recreation Centre in St. Boniface, at an Election Forum on the Meth Crisis in Manitoba, Dougald Lamont spoke eloquently about the severity of the meth epidemic and described the Liberal plan to address it.  The Liberal Plan will make sure that there is a single province-wide phone number for people, or friends of people, who need help dealing with meth to call (as there is in Alberta) and that there will be rapid access to a seamless series of steps - stabilization, detoxification, treatment, extended supportive housing etc so that people with meth addiction can be helped well and effectively and so that they can rebuild their lives.  The Liberal meth plan will be helped by our approach to mental health (putting psychological therapies under medicare), and to poverty (providing better support).  It will also be helped by our vigorous efforts to help young people understand the problems with meth in our education system and to provide alternative positive

Manitoba Liberal accomplishments

  Examples of Manitoba Liberal accomplishments in the last three years Ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020   (To see the full story click on this link ). Introduced a bill that includes retired teachers on the Pension Investment Board which governs their pension investments. Introduced amendments to ensure school aged children are included in childcare and early childhood education plans moving forward. Called for improvements in the management of the COVID pandemic: ·          We called for attention to personal care homes even before there was a single case in a personal care home. ·            We called for a rapid response team to address outbreaks in personal care homes months before the PCs acted.  ·          We called for a science-based approach to preparing schools to   improve ventilation and humidity long before the PCs acted. Helped hundreds of individuals with issues during the pandemic including those on social assistance

The Indigenous Science Conference in Winnipeg June 14-16

  June 14 to 16, I spent three days at the Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference.  It was very worthwhile.   Speaker after speaker talked of the benefits of using both western or mainstream science and Indigenous science.  There is much we can learn from both approaches.   With me above is Myrle Ballard, one of the principal organizers of the conference.  Myrle Ballard, from Lake St. Martin in Manitoba, worked closely with Roger Dube a professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, and many others to make this conference, the first of its kind, a success.  As Roger Dube, Mohawk and Abenaki, a physicist, commented "My feeling is that the fusion of traditional ecological knowledge and Western science methodology should rapidly lead the researchers to much more holistic solutions to problems."   Dr. Myrle Ballard was the first person from her community to get a PhD.  She is currently a professor at the University of Manitoba and the Director of Indigenous Science